2012 Hockey East Championship

[Sean Pickett]

Re: 2012 Hockey East Championship

Could we drum up attendance by dubbing it "Escape to the Cape"? .......I've stayed at the Cape in the Hyannis area on several occasions (vacationing in the summer). It is a great spot, lots to do and see and from what I recall less than a 1.5hr drive from downtown Boston (no traffic).

I hope that the Hockey East markerts it to the fans of the eight teams, but in all honesty I the league will just market it to the local population.

Sean

 

[ClOuD 9]

Re: 2012 Hockey East Championship

This may beat the men's ECAC's in Atlantic City as the worst tournament venue ever. Way to cut out the few fans who actually watch women's hockey.

 

[hockeyfan111]

Re: 2012 Hockey East Championship

Great post. I live in the PA/NJ region and totally agree with your assessment. Makes no sense having teams and their fans travel hundreds of miles for the tournament. Hoping the HE situation works out better, but the location will make it difficult.

This may beat the men's ECAC's in Atlantic City as the worst tournament venue ever. Way to cut out the few fans who actually watch women's hockey.

 

[NUWH DogHouse]

Re: 2012 Hockey East Championship

Just saw this and wow this is dumb... I am a student so getting there would be difficult at best. I am local with possible car access but the time involved in getting down there is ridiculous, plus not cheap with gas. Add in the fact it is near no one as it has been mentioned and I don't see this being reasonable. If NU is in it I will obviously go but I do go to men's games too and would be forced to miss a huge game against bu.

I assume this is a definite for this season but any news whether it is for the future as well?

 

[ClOuD 9]

Re: 2012 Hockey East Championship

The part I don't get is, even if you draw a decent attendance backed by a big youth hockey crowd you're never going to turn them in to repeat customers - the nearest schools are about an hour and a half away. Instead you've alienated your season ticket holders and regularly attending fans by putting it well outside of their reach.

I mentioned the men's ECAC's in Atlantic City before, but their schools at least draw several thousand a game in the regular season, the average attendance for Women's Hockey East conference games last season was 282. The ECAC also has the Cornell factor (the Big Red travel well), and where as historically New Hampshire has been a strong draw I think the 2 1/2 hour drive may be enough to keep many at home should they make it.


HYCC
Boston College: 76.8 mi, 1 hour 29 mins
Boston University: 74.1 mi, 1 hour 22 mins
Connecticut: 126 mi, 2 hours 33 mins
Maine: 320 mi, 5 hours 24 mins
New Hampshire: 135 mi, 2 hours 27 mins
Northeastern: 69.5 mi, 1 hour 19 mins
Providence: 77.1 mi, 1 hour 26 mins
Vermont: 287 mi, 4 hours 40 mins

0 schools under 45 minutes away
0 schools under 1 hour away
4 schools around 1 1/2 hours away
4 schools under 2 hours away
6 schools around 2 1/2 hours away

Tsongas Center
Boston College: 32.5 mi, 46 mins
Boston University: 37.1 mi, 47 mins
Connecticut: 87.9 mi, 1 hour 47 mins
Maine: 242 mi, 4 hours 4 mins
New Hampshire: 56.8 mi, 1 hour 7 mins
Northeastern: 34.4 mi, 46 mins
Providence: 70.6 mi, 1 hour 20 mins
Vermont: 199 mi, 3 hours 17 mins

3 schools around 45 minutes away
4 schools around 1 hour away
5 schools under 1 1/2 hours away
6 schools under 2 hours away
Around an hour and a half closer for UVM and Maine

 

[DC78-82]

Re: 2012 Hockey East Championship

I personally don't mind traveling, as many know. I don't have any problem with having the WHEA Championship on the cape. I like to get out to different places, meet people... It would be one thing if this announcement were made the week the regular season ended, leaving everyone scrambling for time off, travel and lodging, and the unanticipated budget rearranging, but there is plenty of time to plan the trip if you really want to see the hockey.

As the competition in the league gets closer and closer, it comes down to either having it at a neutral site, or at the top finishing team's barn, but we've seen in the past few years that the latter has a lot of potential to not work - BC has trouble scheduling their ice at that time, and I'm sure it would cause conflicts at other schools too because a lot of the respective men's HE teams are at the end of their seasons and preparing for playoffs as well.

Say Maine or Vermont win the league, which may happen in the very near future. Either would be no easier to get to than the cape for most teams. Maybe Hyannis isn't the best neutral spot for everyone, but it could certainly be a lot worse.

There are just about 6 months until the tournament. You can biotch the whole time, plan the trip and use the time to prepare, or plan not to go and get over it. What will YOU do?

 

[ARM]

Re: 2012 Hockey East Championship

Has there been any conversation regarding increasing the Hockey East quarterfinals to include all eight teams? The thinking at one point may have been that the bottom two teams would not be competitive, but that did not seem to be the case last year, and with the improvement shown by teams like Vermont and UNH, the league looks to be even more balanced now. Interest in the semis and final may be greater with those associated with the 7th and 8th teams if they are included in the tournament, so that may be another means to grow the event.

 

[DC78-82]

Re: 2012 Hockey East Championship

Has there been any conversation regarding increasing the Hockey East quarterfinals to include all eight teams? The thinking at one point may have been that the bottom two teams would not be competitive, but that did not seem to be the case last year, and with the improvement shown by teams like Vermont and UNH, the league looks to be even more balanced now. Interest in the semis and final may be greater with those associated with the 7th and 8th teams if they are included in the tournament, so that may be another means to grow the event.

I'm guessing you meant Vermont and Maine, because UNH most certainly didn't improve last year. I'm not sure what the criteria will be for including all 8 teams in playoffs, but if it's top to bottom parity, last year was certainly a demonstration of that in terms of not having a team you could take lightly either regular season or post-season.

 

[ARM]

Re: 2012 Hockey East Championship

I'm guessing you meant Vermont and Maine, because UNH most certainly didn't improve last year.

No, I meant Vermont and UNH, because they were the two teams left out last season, and both would appear to have improved for this season. Of course, that's hard to say at this point, because a year ago the Wildcats were sitting at #8 in the USCHO Poll.

EDIT: My overall meaning is that it would appear that the bottom two teams in Hockey East look like they are improving relative to the top teams. It isn't like a few years ago when UNH sat on top and it was a ways down to anyone else.

 

[DC78-82]

Re: 2012 Hockey East Championship

No, I meant Vermont and UNH, because they were the two teams left out last season, and both would appear to have improved for this season. Of course, that's hard to say at this point, because a year ago the Wildcats were sitting at #8 in the USCHO Poll.

EDIT: My overall meaning is that it would appear that the bottom two teams in Hockey East look like they are improving relative to the top teams. It isn't like a few years ago when UNH sat on top and it was a ways down to anyone else.

Gotcha! I didn't get that you were referring to improvement from last year to this. In that case, I fully concur!